Mary, The Mother Of Jesus Research Papers Example

Abstract

The Blessed Virgin Mary of the Mother of Jesus is mentioned several times in the four gospels, with each gospel providing a different side of her life. She is among the very few women of the ancient times whose life story is followed from the childhood years and up to adulthood and motherhood. Although she is not referenced much in the four gospels, she is prophesied in the Old Testament, and is given a very significant and holy role. For her faith to God, her obedience, and charity, among others, she is seen as a sign of comfort and faith to the pilgrim People of God and is also considered the Mother of The Church.
The Blessed Virgin Mary or Mary of Nazareth is the mother of God, the mother of Jesus Christ. She is among the very few women in the ancient world, whose life story is known from her early childhood years and up to her mature adulthood (Fletcher, 1997). In general, the chronological order of the history and theology of Mary the Mother of God follow that of their respective sources (e.g. the Old Testament, the New Testament, etc.). Although the gospels are mainly focusing on Jesus, rather than his mother, given that her appearances within the Bible are limited, her role in the mystery of Christ, the Spirit and the Church is significant. According to the Vatican archives, the Virgin Mary is “acknowledged and honoured as being truly the Mother of God and of the redeemer. . . . She is 'clearly the mother of the members of Christ' . . . since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its head. [] "Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.d). Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a historical woman of the first century, living in Galilee, is in the stories of the New Testament, and the Mother of God, as venerated in the Christian Church (Fletcher, 1997). For the writers of the New Testament though, she is seen as a rather unimportant figure, as Jesus was their main focus and the person that gathered their hopes and attention. The evangelists depict Mary in different ways, too. It is believed that they did so because each had a particular audience (e.g. Christians in Rome, Gentile Christians, etc.) and wanted to convey particular ideas about God and Jesus (Fletcher, 1997). That aside, Mary is also seen as the Mother of the Church.

Mary in the Gospels

Mark looks more into Mary as the historical Mary of Nazareth. In Mark’s gospel, Mary is referenced when Jesus’ family visits him (3:31-35) and when he is rejected at Nazareth (6:1-6). Although Mary is not referenced by her name, it is almost certain that she was there in this painful incident (Fletcher, 1997). She is also depicted as the center of her family, the loving and confident leader of the family. When Jesus tried to widen the family circle, resetting the boundaries of family life, which included the people that believed in Him, Mary gave the example of what a family should be like (Fletcher, 1997).
In Luke’s gospel, Mary is mentioned in the Annunciation (1:26-38), when she visits her cousin Elizabeth (1:39-56), when she gives birth to Jesus (2:1-7), when she takes her son to the temple (2:21-38), when she and her husband lose Jesus while visiting Jerusalem (2:41-52), when Jesus is rejected from Nazareth (4:16-30), and when Jesus’ family visit him during his ministry (8:19-21). She is depicted having full trust and faith in God, fully cooperated with God, just like a true follower of Jesus should do. However, she is also seen as a human figure, a mother, who experiences both anxiety and happiness, as she watched over her son (Fletcher, 1997).
She agreed to marry Joseph, a young worker, like a typical Galilean woman, but her life would be far from the normal life of a woman her age. During the Annunciation, when the angel came to her and told her that she would become the mother of a man that will be the Son of God “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus” (1:26-38) she willingly accepted God’s will, even though she was unmarried at that time. Having no human father to Mary’s child was something that could not be accepted and believed by her family; it would dishonor them to have a pregnant unmarried daughter. Then, Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, where, through prayers, both women recognized that each other’s child will play a significant role in the world and expressed the wonder of what had happened to Mary. All the rest of Mary’s life, from the birth of her son to the suffering on the cross and the final resurrection, Mary is seen as a loving mother and a Jewish woman that took her religious and motherly duties seriously. She provided Jesus the education required and continued living as a normal Galilean, Jewish woman (Fletcher, 1997).
Mathew writes lots of stories about Mary in his gospel that are not found in the other gospels. Again, Mary is mentioned when she gives birth to Jesus (1:18-25), when the family flees to Egypt (2:13-21), when Mary and Joseph visit Jesus during his ministry (12:46-50), and when Jesus is rejected at Nazareth (13:53-58). In Matthew’s gospel, preceded by a genealogy, the birth of Jesus is narrated from Joseph’s point of view, rather than Mary’s, and he is named as the legal father of Jesus (Fletcher, 1997). A genealogy would establish one’s religious and social position, which Mathew’s different approach compared to Luke. At first, Joseph was reluctant to marry Mary, due to her vulnerable position in a society that emphasized family honor greatly. Marrying a pregnant woman while knowing that he is not the father of her child was a big decision. However, divine interference convinced him that there a miracle with extreme significance to the world is happening “Αρχή φόρμας
Τέλος φόρμας
When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son.” (1:18-25). After that, there is no other reference of Joseph (Fletcher, 1997).
Finally, in John’s gospel, Mary is mentioned when she and Jesus attended a wedding at Cana (2:1-11), and at the crucifixion (19:25-27). It becomes obvious that each gospel gives a different aspect of Mary’s life. In John’s gospel, the divinity of God was the prime focus and Mary was not referenced much. However, it is clear that she knows her place in the community and is confident about who she is; the mother of Jesus. At the wedding at Cana, Mary told Jesus that there was no wine to serve the people. Then Jesus replied “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come”, but Mary told the servant to do whatever Jesus would tell them. Jesus said “Fill the jars with water” (2:1-11) and the servants did so, and Jesus turned water to wine (Fletcher, 1997). It was his mother’s assertiveness that her son should help in a difficult situation that made Jesus perform a miracle. That said; Mary is a mother that watched her son traveling around the country teaching about God, and danger coming closer and closer. She was unable to protect her child, saw her son tortured and killed like a hideous criminal and yet she endured it all. Her heart broke, like any mother’s would, yet, she never betrayed God.

Mary, Mother of the Church

The Church honors Mary as the Blessed Virgin-the Mother of God, from the most ancient times and the liturgical feasts dedicated to her prayer (e.g. the rosary) are perceived to be the epitome of the whole Gospel (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.d).
Mary’s union with Christ is inseparable from her role in Church. The Blessed Virgin is perceived to have advanced in her religious journey of faith and has kept her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood and endured the intensity of the Son’s suffering, adhering to the divine plan. She joined herself with Jesus’ sacrifice and was given as the mother of a disciple, by Jesus himself, just before dying on the cross with these words “Woman, behold your son” (John 19:27). When Jesus ascended, her prayers helped the beginnings of the Church and allowed her to implore the gift of the Spirit that had embraced her during the Annunciation (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.d). Finally, when her earthy life reached the end, she received heavenly glory and she exalted fully conformed to the Lord of the lords, her Son, and conqueror of death and sin. Mary, is the Church’s model of charity and faith, given that she adhered to the will of the Father and the redemptive work of her Son, from beginning to end. Hence, she is a “pre-eminent and as a wholly unique member [and] occupies a place in the Church which is highest after Christ and also closest to us” (LG 53-54).
Mary is also a mother to all the people in the order of grace, because of the way she cooperated by her faith, obedience, charity, and hope in Jesus’ work of saving souls (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.d). Mary’s motherhood in order of grace is also reflected by her consent that she gave at the Annunciation and to which she remained loyal until beneath the cross, without ever wavering, and the fulfilment of all the elect. When taken up to heaven, Mary is invoked under titles of Benefactress, Helper, Mediatrix, and Advocate. Finally, Mary is the image and beginning of the Church. Until the day the Savior shall come, she shines forth on earth, as a sign of comfort and faith to the pilgrim People of God "in the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity [] in the communion of all the saints [] the Church is awaited by the one she venerates as Mother of her Lord and as her own mother” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.d).

Mary and the Old Testament

According to Maas (1912) Mary has been prophesied three times in the Old Testament. The first prophesy is found in the Book of Genesis, where it says “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel” (3:15). The second prophesy is found in Micah 5:2-3, where it says:
“And thou, Bethlehem, Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda: out of thee shall be come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel, and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity. Therefore will he give them up till the time wherein she that travaileth shall bring forth, and the remnant of his brethren shall be converted to the children of Israel.”
It is believed that the prophesy was undoubtedly referring to the Messiah, given that when Herod asked the scribes and chief priests where the Messiah would be born, they answered he would be born in Bethlehem the land of Juda (Maas, 1912). Also, when the Jewish people were gathered at Jerusalem to celebrate the feast, they asked a rhetorical question about Christ, the Messiah, was to be born from a seed of David, and from Bethlehem (Maas, 1912). Finally, the third prophesy that mentions Mary is found in Jeremias, where is says “The Lord has created a new thing upon the earth: A woman shall compass a man” (31:22)

Conclusion

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is prophesied in the Old Testament and is mentioned several times in the four gospels, although none of them was focusing on her, but on her son Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World. She is depicted as a loving mother with undivided faith to God that stood by her son and endured all the struggles and torture that he had to go through to save the people. For her many virtues and for being honoured to be the mother of God’s son, she is also proclaimed the Mother of the Church and the Spirit.

References:

Bible Gateway (n.d). John 19:25-29 - New King James Version (NKJV). Retrieved Feb. 21, 2015 from: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+19%3A25-29&version=NKJV
Fletcher, E. (1997). Women in the Bible. HarperCollins Religious. ISBN-10: 1863716831.Retrieved Feb. 21, 2015 from: http://www.womeninthebible.net/2.1.Mary_of_Nazareth.htm
Lumen Gentium 8 (1964). Mary and the Church: Member of the Church. Retrieved Feb. 21, 2015 from: http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/documents/docs4-1.html
Maas, A. (1912). The Blessed Virgin Mary. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved Feb. 21, 2015 from: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15464b.htm
Vatican Archives (n.d). Part One: The Profession Of Faith, Section Two: The Profession Of The Christian Faith. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Retrieved Feb. 21, 2015 from: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p6.htm